Monthly Archives: November 2015

Ivan Eland: The Endless Cycle of Terrorism

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“Instead of over-the-top responses by weak leaders, such as George W. Bush or Francois Hollande, we need strong and effective leaders to withstand the pressure for excessive and thus counterproductive responses—exactly what the terrorists want.  After 9/11, the United States has needlessly attacked or invaded at least seven Muslim countries and only made the terrorism problem worse.  Presidents Bush and Obama have told the world that these military actions are not a ‘war on Islam’; unfortunately, to those at the other end of the gun barrel, it doesn’t look that way.”

http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=8587

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Failed Windows 3.1 system blamed for shutting down Paris airport

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“Paris Orly airport had to close temporarily last Saturday after the failure of a system running Windows 3.1—yes, the operating system from 1992—left it unable to operate in fog.  This use of ancient systems is apparently not unusual. Vice quotes Alexandre Fiacre, the secretary general of France’s UNSA-IESSA air traffic controller union, as saying that ‘The tools used by Aéroports de Paris controllers run on four different operating systems, that are all between 10 and 20 years old,’ with Windows 3.1 being joined by Windows XP and unspecified UNIX systems. Fiacre says that the systems are poorly maintained as well.”

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/failed-windows-3-1-system-blamed-for-taking-out-paris-airport/

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Officials Worldwide Seek New Powers in Wake of Paris Attacks

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“Officials in several countries are wasting no time in trying to convince the public to trade essential freedoms for the promise of enhanced security.  US officials are also eager to cash in on the panic with more powers, seeking to expand their ability to carry out mass surveillance, citing the largely toothless ‘reforms’ of NSA surveillance as proof that the US has intelligence ‘gaps’ that need to be filled by more intrusion into ordinary citizens’ affairs.  Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was the least specific but the most direct, insisting that Paris proved the need to favor security over basic human rights, and predicting a massive shift toward more government power.”

http://news.antiwar.com/2015/11/16/officials-seek-new-powers-in-wake-of-paris-attacks/

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France under first nationwide state of emergency since 1961

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“Most significant for the French state in the current context are the powers given to the security services and police to act without judicial oversight. They can conduct house searches at any time, enforce house arrest and confiscate certain classes of weapons, even if people hold them legally.  Using the special measures, 168 homes have been raided and 104 people have been placed under house arrest in the past 48 hours. These have led to 23 arrests and the seizure of 31 weapons. On Sunday the French president, François Hollande, was reported to have told parliamentarians he was considering an extension of three months.”

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/16/france-nationwide-state-of-emergency

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The Dismal State of Police Body-Camera Laws

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“Des­pite fed­er­al sup­port, there are few fed­er­al laws or guidelines for the use of body cam­er­as. Rules are set piece­meal city-by-city. There are vast dif­fer­ences between how even the largest de­part­ments, like New York and Chica­go, handle film from body cam­er­as. A co­ali­tion of ma­jor civil-rights groups re­leased guidelines for op­tim­al rules in May. The re­port re­leased on Monday is the first to sur­vey how many loc­al de­part­ments stack up.  The res­ults are not good. No city po­lice de­part­ment was ideal. Two de­part­ments stood out in par­tic­u­lar as hav­ing es­pe­cially dread­ful rules: At­lanta and Fer­guson, Mis­souri.  City de­part­ments in Phil­adelphia, De­troit, San Ant­o­nio, and Al­buquerque also did not fare well.”

http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-america/criminal-justice/dismal-state-police-body-camera-laws

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Who controls the cop cam?

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“Once a simple stun-gun manufacturer, Taser has reinvented itself as an all-in-one law enforcement technology ecosystem: less-lethal weapons linked to cameras that automatically send footage to Taser’s evidence management database, where it can be edited and packaged using Taser’s cloud software tools. It’s a single walled garden, explicitly modeled after Apple’s software controls, extending from the camera lens to the prosecutor’s laptop. And as it grows more popular, that system has put us on the cusp of a fundamental change in the way law enforcement works in America, shaping police departments to the logic of a software startup.”

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/16/9724644/police-tech-body-cams-transparency-violence-taser

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California collects, owns and sells infants’ DNA samples

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“If you were born in California since 1983, the state owns your DNA.  The data of every Californian born since that year is kept in a bland office building in Richmond, a city located in the eastern section of the San Francisco Bay Area.  That data’s not just passively kept, mind you: it’s also being sold, to third parties, for research purposes.  That biometric data, taken by a heel prick at birth to screen for 80 hereditary diseases, represents a wealth of information on an individual, from eye and hair color to pre-disposition to diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. Besides being sold – in purportedly de-identified form, it’s also available for law enforcement requests.”

https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2015/11/12/california-collects-owns-and-sells-infants-dna-samples/

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The App That Can Help Prevent Asset Forfeiture

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“One of Waze’s most popular features is a little mustachioed head in a blue hat and dark sunglasses — a policeman. That means there’s a speed trap up ahead. On my recent trip, I reported several lurking police cars, and received dozens of in-app ‘Thanks!’ from other users. (My personal data isn’t included in Waze because I set it up with an anonymous user profile, as always.)  And that’s precisely why the National Sheriffs’ Association — the other ‘NSA’ — wants Waze banned.  Apparently it’s fine for government to know everything about you, but it’s not OK for you to know something about the government … such as where a policeman might be lurking on the road.”

http://thesovereigninvestor.com/asset-protection/app-prevents-asset-forfeiture/

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Even its Creators Want to Shut Down the Asset-Forfeiture Racket [2014]

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“If you need more evidence that asset forfeiture should be eliminated, John Yoder and Brad Cates, the first two directors of the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Office, have a column in today’s Washington Post, and they unambiguously disown the bureaucracy they created and the evils it has spawned. I’m especially glad they include the government’s foolish and costly anti-money laundering laws as they discuss government run amok. A big problem is that these laws create perverse incentives for abusive behavior by bureaucracies.  Our presumption of innocence shouldn’t be eroded just because some bureaucrats are greedy to steal private property.”

https://danieljmitchell.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/even-its-creators-want-to-shut-down-the-governments-asset-forfeiture-racket/

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New report: In tough times, police property seizures rise

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“The past decade has seen a ‘meteoric, exponential increase’ in the use of the practice. The government does not measure the number of times per year that assets are seized. But one common measure of the practice is the amount of money in the asset forfeiture funds of the Department of Justice and the U.S. Treasury, the two agencies that typically perform forfeitures at the federal level. In 2008,there were less than $1.5 billion in the combined asset forfeiture funds of the Justice Department and the U.S. Treasury, according to the report. But by 2014, that number had tripled, to roughly $4.5 billion.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-police-property-seizures-20151110-story.html

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